Class Overviews

Rune Keeper Class Overview

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Hail to all those fellow RK’s out their in Middle-Earth!

I would like to give a big thank you to one of my fellow kin-mates Torunuir Tarikabar for writing this wonderful article and allowing me to feature it on the website.

Torunuir is one of those kin-mates that just make LOTRO more fun!  He brings a unique gaming perspective to the table, and his knowledge about Middle-Earth is mind blowing at times as he’s like a Tolkien dictionary.  He has done a fantastic job on this overview of the Rune Keeper and I hope you all enjoy!

An Overview to the Runekeeper

A hybrid DPS and healing class, a fully buffed Runekeeper (referred to as RK) is not to be despised. Capable of laying down fire, lighting, a decent amount of CC, and healing, RK’s have the potential to solo small fellowship quests as well as being a compliment to any fellowship. The Keeper uses the attunement system, which is shown as a large bar that swings from side to side depending on skills used.

There are three types of Runekeeper skills: damage, healing, and neutral. While damage and healing skills seem natural, some neutral skills, such as Self-Motivation, bring attunement toward neutral rather than towards damage or healing. Keeping an eye on attunement incombat is essential for success; the higher attunement, the more powerful skills become. Some skills require at least one damage/healing attunement before they can be used. For example, Word of Exaltation, the basic RK morale bubble, requires at least one healing attunement before it can be used.

Post Helm’s Deep Update (U12), trait trees were added to all classes, with the Runekeeper being no exception. They are as follows:

1)      Solitary Thunder (DPS) – yellow tree

2)      Cleansing Flame (DPS) – red tree

3)      Benediction of Peace (healing) – blue tree

While the DPS can be attained in either DPS tree, play-style and fellowship needs will generally dictate what trees the RK should trait into.

Solitary Thunder

                Also known as the lightning tree, this DPS tree stresses mobility and CC while dealing damage at the same time. Traiting in this tree yields Writ of Lightning, a potent damage and debuff skill. When stacked to full tier, this Writ debuffs the target’s lighting mitigation, leaving said target more vulnerable to any other lightning attack.

                While there are other vital skills for the RK in this tree, a few vital ones to note are Sustaining Bolt and Epic Conclusion. When Sustaining Bolt is first acquired, it seems weak, since it does not deal as much damage and provides merely a reduction in skill power costs. However, when enough points are slotted into the tree, a class trait is unlocked that allows Sustaining Bolt to heal morale. Couple this with the fact that Word of Exaltation can be used out of healing tree, and there is a new survivalist potential to this tree that the other two trees lack.

                Finally, Epic Conclusion is perhaps the most powerful skill this tree has to offer. Starting with a fair amount of base damage, if Harsh Debate and Thunderous Words are proc’d, then the combined result is extremely power. Since keeping an eye on what has been proc’d is so important, a circle appears on the side of the RK when each of these is obtained. When both are acquired, a streak of lightning appears between the two circles, and the succeeding bar turns blue. Using Epic Conclusion now increases its damage, its crit chance, and reduces its cooldown by half.

While words only explain so much, experience is key, so try heading to a camp of enemies and experimenting a bit. Much can be learned by trying different combinations in different situations, experience that is vital in stressful situations.

Cleansing Flame

                Unlike lightning DPS, stationary DoT is the name of the game in the fire tree (note: there is more AoE damage than lightning as a result). Stacking and keeping stacked fire DoT’s is essential to playing in this tree. Writ of Fire, when upgraded through class traits, will tier down instead of just dropping off when it times out, so keep that in mind. Also, along with stacking Writ of Fire, stack Fiery Ridicule as well. FR, also when upgraded, will affect up to three nearby enemies, and, FR’s DoT can be refreshed by the use of Essence of Flame, another AoE fire skill.

Once fire skills are stacked, time is needed to take full effect of all the tiers put on a target. While the stacks are going, use a skill that will deal more damage without affecting the stacks on a target; I personally use Smoldering Wrath. While Wrath can be used at any time, I have found it useful to use to deal even more damage while my DoT’s are taking effect. However, Shocking Words or Combustion can be used for different effects, there is no one right way to play.

                As this is but an overview, one other key skill to note is Essay of Flame. It is only accessible through class traits, but it removes the induction of your next skill. Use it wisely; it has a 10s CD.

 

Benediction of Peace

                Ah yes, healing, the part of difficulty for many Keepers. RK healing as a whole can be summed up into a single statement: Healing over Time. As a healer, every situation, every instance is different, making it tough to have a predetermined healing skill rotation. However, there are a few things that any healer should keep in mind.

                First, since time is essential here, protection while time is ticking is required. RK’s have a couple skills that accent this process: Word of Exaltation (single target) and Essay of Exaltation (all allies within 20m). Both of them are morale bubbles, and insulate their target to a degree while the healer is stacking healing on them. For stacking, use Writ of Health (it tiers down as well), and keep an eye on Bombastic Inspiration. BI, when expired, heals for a few thousand morale instantly rather than over time, making it incredibly useful in instances such as the Watcher. BI can also be used while moving, so, if as a healer, you are forced to heal while mobile, BI is your new best friend. Side note for stacking: if you are the sole healer in a full fellowship, consider using Rousing Words to spread a Writ of Health among all your nearby fellowship members.

                Of course, as with any pull, there are emergencies. This is where skills that yield instant morale earn the most merit for RK’s. Mending Words (shorter induction but less health) and Epic For The Ages (longer induction but more health) come in handy here. Both heal considerable amounts of morale, and EFTA can be upgraded to yield splash morale.

In conclusion, the Runekeeper is a versatile class with a lot of potential. It is also simple to learn, but hard to master. Time and experience will help the mastering process, but, when mastering is attained, the RK becomes an unstoppable force in the hands of a capable player.

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Burglar Class Overview

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BURGLAR CLASS OVERVIEW

Even though the Burglar class has been around in Lord of the Rings Online for a minute or two now, it is a fairly new class for me.  I started my Burglar about six months ago and honestly didn’t play much with him at first because I was gun shy of the class.  I’ve always enjoyed the ranged classes better than the up in your face, hand to hand combat types.  Oddly enough though, my first class I started in LOTRO back in 2009 was a Champion….go figure.

The biggest looming factor I think that always kept me at an arrows shot away from starting one of these swift footed, knife wielding, killers was the lack of understanding on their purpose.  I’m not a LOTRO guru that understands all the ins and outs of everything within the game but I have my favorite aspects and love to make sure I know what I’m doing.  So came the brave idea of let’s create a Burglar and use him as a SOLO character to learn how to play with him.  Needless to say it’s taken me a long time to get to know my cloaked marauder.  That’s where I wanted to start and break down some key aspects of this now growing favorite class of mine within LOTRO.

What I learned early on is the Burglar isn’t a DPS monster like the Hunter or Champion.  The Burglar seems to be able to hold his own in moderate crowds of battle but when overwhelmed he can go down very quickly.  These guys are masters at disguise, debuffing bad guys, and crowd control masters.  One of the things I learned very quickly is pre-planning all your attacks come in very handy.  I was used to nuking from a distance with my Hunter or AOE’ing everything within swinging distance on my Champion with no regard really.  So the thought of pre-planning a few attacks when I’m not in a RAID, Skirmish, or Instance was mind blowing to me.

These guys have the ability to stack bleeds together to make life really tough for foes; they can also stun you and have you “Dead” before you blink.  Pretty much an endless bag of tricks is what you have at your disposal for taking down any type of hairy situation you get yourself into. In solo play, Burglars are one of the best in my opinion because of their versatility and ability to take down multiple mobs with a bit of planning.

The Burglar class is available only to Hobbits and Race of Man.  Seeing how Bilbo was a Burglar, I thought it fitting to create a Hobbit Burglar of my own…though I’m not quite the legend as Bilbo I have heard some rumors starting as I’m roaming through Bree late at night picking some pockets.  Oh wait, I mean grabbing a few drinks at the Prancing Pony.  Hobbits can also acquire a stealth skill that stacks nicely for the Burglar.  Hobbits can also acquire the “Hobbit-Silence” trait and seems to work better for getting that unwanted aggro off of you.

Key Attributes

Agility is the critical stat for Burglars, as it affects your melee critical chance and evade rating. The higher you’re agility, the better chance of scoring those critical hits and a bigger chance of enemies missing you during combat.  You can take a look at your other stats but boosting that Agility will also increase the offensive and defensive stats.  Like the Hunter getting your stats like you want is mainly all gear driven it seems.

Burglars do extra damage when they are able to attack from behind.  Remember when I said they are masters at disguise and sneaking about.  This is a prime example of where to use it…sneak up on an enemy and attack.  Solo play is one of the best ways to use this tactic, but if you are in a group and you have a Tank then let him grab aggro before you start stabbing those knives into the back of your enemy.

Crowd Control Kings is what one of my kinmates refers the Burglar as.  The statement I made earlier about not understanding this classes purpose, well this is it in a nutshell.  He’s the crowd control king for group play.  Burglars have a wide array of options to achieve this as well and learning how to use them is most important.  If you look at the default crowd control skills you have Riddle, Diversion, Addle, & Provoke which also does melee damage and lessens the critical chance of an enemy attack.

With the release of Helms Deep you now have the Trait Tree system which brings three new lines to choose from for all classes in LOTRO.

The Burglar has the following lines to choose from.  I’ve tried all three and the Yellow Line is my favorite by far as its where all the tricks come in.  The Burglar however is a class you need to analyze the situation with and find out what trait line will work best with before you just rush into battle.  It’s that whole pre-planning the attack thing I mentioned earlier and a lesson I learned the hard way –

  • The Gambler – Blue Line / Uses damage over time and chance to defeat foes. Gambler Burglars rely on the roll of the dice to inflict damage and influence outcomes of the fight.
  • The Quiet Knife – Red Line / Uses stealth and position tactics to deal damage. Quiet Knife Burglars pounce on their enemy from the shadows, dealing large amount of damage on their opening attacks.
  • The Mischief Maker – Yellow Line / Applies and removes tricks to hinder foes. Mischief Maker Burglars can control fights by tricking their foes into submission.

IN SUMMARY

The Burglar is one of the most advanced classes in the game except for the Warden in my opinion.  It’s also, after you learn how not to die every five seconds one of the most fun and exciting classes to play.  You do not have to be a VIP subscriber to roll one of these magnificent classes as it’s available to all free-to-play accounts.  This class is all about outwitting the enemy so if you like the challenge of planning attacks, sneaking about, and don’t like brute forcing you’re way through the game then The Burglar is calling you’re name.  If you haven’t started a Burglar or maybe reluctant because you don’t understand the class, I’m hoping this article helps open some doors on this class.